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Of Dogs and Men, directed by Dani Rosenberg, originates from the terrible aftermath of Israel’s October 7 attacks, a time that drastically changed the cultural landscape.

This film, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival, masterfully weaves the personal tragedy of a little girl, Dar, into the larger fabric of conflict, probing the emotional and cultural scars left in its wake. Rosenberg shows a community struggling with loss in Kibbutz Nir Oz, one of the regions directly affected, illustrating how violence radiates through ordinary life.

Dar, a 16-year-old returning to her kibbutz for her beloved dog Shula, is at the heart of the narrative. This endeavour is an apt metaphor for the search for normalcy amid chaos.

As Dar travels over the partially destroyed terrain, the kibbutz becomes a character in its own right, embodying the remnants of a once-peaceful life now overshadowed by trauma and uncertainty. Dar’s eyes...

Get ready for the Honey Boys. That’s the title of the English-language version of Israeli comedy-drama Johnny and the Knights of the Galilee, which is being worked up by Tehran co-producer Paper Entertainment. The yes Studios-distributed series has already been successfully remade in France as Escort Boys.

The English-language take on the show will follow Ben, a struggling actor based in London, who returns to his hometown in Cornwall after his father’s death. His family farm is struggling and Ben and three childhood friends start an escorting business to make ends meet. What starts as a short-term fix becomes far more meaningful, rocking their pre-conceived ideas about love and sexuality.

The original Johnny and the Knights of the Galilee series was created, written and directed by Dani Rosenberg and Tom Shoval. It was made yes TV and July August Productions for Israel’s yes TV.

The French-language adaptation,...

Exclusive: The European Producers Club (Epc) has voiced its support for Ukrainian producer Alexander Rodnyansky, after a Russian court sentenced him in absentia last week to eight-and-a-half years in prison.

The sentence was related to charges of spreading fake news about Russia’s war in Ukraine, after the producer posted on social media against Russian missile attacks on a maternity hospital in Mariupol and andother civilian targets in Kyiv, Dnieper and Zaporozhye in the early days of the 2022 invasion.

Paris-based body Epc – which gathers 160 top independent producers in Europe including Rodnyansky – said its members were “deeply troubled” by the sentence.

“Alexander embodies the very essence of what it means to be an independent producer: a champion of creative diversity and an advocate for art as a platform to explore differing perspectives on society. The harshness of the sentence imposed upon him underscores the importance of his role in this capacity,...

Oscar-nominated producer Alexander Rodnyansky has been sentenced in absentia to eight-and-a-half years in jail by a Russian court on charges of spreading fake news about Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The trial was related to social media posts by Rodnyansky, firstly in March 2022, in which he criticized a Russian missile attack on a maternity hospital in Mariupol, and in October 10, 2022, about attacks by the Russian army on civilian targets in Kyiv, Dnieper and Zaporozhye.

Rodnyansky, who was born in Kyiv but spent much of his career working in Russia, fled the country shortly after its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Commenting on the legal action in a talk at NATPE Budapest over the summer, Rodnyansky said he was expecting an eight- to 10-year jail sentence, but that it was “too late to be scared.”

He noted that other writers, journalists and filmmakers in his entourage had already received similar sentences, and...

It hasn’t even been a year since Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israeli soldiers and civilians on the other side of the Gaza border, igniting a long and deadly conflict that is still very much ongoing. And yet, someone has already decided to go and shoot a movie about what happened.

Is there such a thing as too soon when it comes to depicting the aftermath of a massacre, especially in a work of semi-fiction? And what about all the people still under threat, whether Palestinian or Israeli, as the catastrophic war continues to rage on?

These are some of the many questions that one can, and should, ask before seeing Of Dogs and Men (Al klavim veanashim), writer-director Dani Rosenberg’s quietly harrowing account of the Oct. 7 massacre and its many victims. Neither fiction nor documentary, but somewhere in between, the small-scale feature follows a lone teenage girl,...

It’s Joker: Folie à Deux day here on the Lido, with director Todd Phillips and stars Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga in town for the world premiere of Warner Bros/DC’s crime drama with musical flourishes. Before that, Philipps, Joker Best Actor Oscar winner Phoenix, and Gaga fielded questions from the press who had attended a packed show this morning.

The trio were in a playful mood, particularly Phoenix, who repeatedly turned down the invitation to answer questions. Joker: Folie À Deux is Phillips’ return to the Lido after clinching the festival Golden Lion with the first film in 2019.

Related: Daniel Craig On Intimacy, Fulfillment & Accessibility Of Luca Guadagnino’s ‘Queer’ – Venice Film Festival

Phillips said this morning that it feels “right and correct” to be in Venice with the sequel.

“It felt like the logical launching point for this second film. We have a very strong feeling...

Indie filmmaker John Swab’s action thriller King Ivory, a multi-faceted dive into the U.S. fentanyl crisis that weaves together storylines from various angles of the war on drugs, had its world premiere in the Horizons Extra strand at the Venice Film Festival this week. Much of the main cast was on hand to reunite on the Lido after having shot the movie under an interim agreement last year in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The story follows Tulsa drug cop, Layne West (James Badge Dale), who is battling the local criminal element, which hits too close to home when his son gets hooked on fentanyl. West makes it his mission to take down those responsible, including the Mexican cartel’s local shot-caller, Ramón Garza (Michael Mando), Indian Brotherhood War Chief, Holt Lightfeather (Graham Greene), who controls state-wide trafficking while serving life inside the Oklahoma State Penitentiary at McAlester and the local Irish Mob family outfit,...

Daniel Craig was in the Sala Grande this evening for the Venice Film Festival world premiere of Luca Guadagnino’s Queer which earned an 11-minute, 44-second ovation from the audience.

The crowd chanted Guadagnino’s name at the beginning of the ovation as he held up stars Craig, Drew Starkey and Lesley Manville’s hands separately for individual applause. The cast came down together from the gallery and bowed in unison, then one-by-one came down from the gallery again. Pedro Almodóvar was in the audience, and during the ovation congratulated Guadagnino and hugged him and Craig. You can see the video below.

Director Luca Guadagnino leads Daniel Craig, Drew Starkey, Lesley Manville and the rest of the cast of his film #Queer down the steps of the Sala Grande, where they all bow to the audience in unison #VeniceFilmFestvial #Venezia81 pic.twitter.com/rcU2BNTqkF

— Deadline (@Deadline) September 3, 2024

Stars of...

There is a sense-memory of Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven when Harvest begins; we are in the midst of a wheatfield, the ripe ears above us, the blue sky glimpsed between the stalks. Caleb Landry Jones appears, caressing a butterfly. Then he bites off a piece of mossy wood, chews experimentally and spits it out; we have just shifted sideways from Malick’s lyricism into the unpredictably strange, unforgiving world of Greek director Athina Rachel Tsangari.

Venice competition title Harvest is set in what is probably a Scottish village sometime in the 18th century, when much of the country was being convulsed by an agricultural revolution. During the Clearances, thousands of peasant farmers were evicted to make way for industrial-scale sheep farming, their fields grassed, and woods razed for pasture. Landry Jones plays Walter Thirsk, who came to this imaginary village — so remote that it doesn’t require a name,...

Exclusive: After last year’s October 7 attacks in Israel, local director Dani Rosenberg struggled to make sense of the horrors of the massacre and the ensuing war that would unleash what he describes as “unimaginable suffering, defying comprehension.” Feeling helpless, he decided to throw himself into what he knew best — filmmaking — and began asking himself the daunting question of whether or not these events could be represented or depicted on screen.

At the end of October 2023, Rosenberg, who had previously directed Locarno title The Vanishing Solider, began putting together what would be the beginnings of his next title Of Dogs and Men (Al Klavim Veanashim). The film, which premieres in the Venice Film Festival’s Horizons section on September 5, went into production just weeks after October 7, when he and a small crew entered the Kibbutz Nir Oz, a community of hardworking, intellectual and peace-driven people founded by a group of left-wing activists.

Daniel Craig splashed down on the Lido today for the world premiere of Luca Guadagnino’s Queer which will screen in competition this evening. Before walking the red carpet, star and filmmaker were part of a 10-strong delegation speaking with the Venice Film Festival press corps about the adaptation of the eponymous William S Burroughs novel.

Craig plays William Lee, an American ex-pat in his late forties who leads a solitary life amidst a small working-class and collegiate community in 1950s Mexico City. However, the arrival in town of Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey), a young student, stirs Lee into finally establishing a meaningful connection with someone.

Related: ‘Of Dogs And Men’ Director Dani Rosenberg & Producer Alexander Rodnaynsky Talk Making The October 7 Drama, The Petition Calling To Boycott Israeli Films & Why Their Project Is “An Important Statement About Peace” — Venice

One of the first questions raised was about filming scenes of...

Israeli director Amos Gitai has pushed back against efforts for his Venice-bowing film “Why War” to be boycotted from the festival.

Premiering out of the competition over the weekend, the film takes its cue from correspondence in the early 1930s between Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud as they attempted to answer questions relating to the human race’s bellicose nature and how to avoid war.

On the eve of the festival, “Why War” — alongside Dani Rosenberg’s “Of Dogs and Men” — was the subject of a letter signed by more than 300 artists, including filmmakers such as Hany Abu Assad, Enrico Parenti and Alessandra Ferrini, asserting that the film has been “created by complicit Israeli production companies that contribute to apartheid, occupation and now genocide through their silence or active participation in artwashing.”

But Gitai, speaking at a press conference on Saturday, argued that those calling for the boycott hadn’t...

Israeli director Amos Gitai has batted back calls for a boycott of his new film Why War and said both sides of the Israel–Palestine conflict need to clean out their current leaderships for peace to prevail.

Premiering this weekend of out of competition at the Venice Film Festival, Why War takes its cue from correspondence in the early 1930s between Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud on the question of the human race’s bellicose nature and how to avoid war. The work mixes reenactments of the two figures reciting their exchanges, with historic images of war in art and acted scenes of characters dealing with the psychological impact of conflict.

Although the movie has no direct connection to today’s conflict in the Middle East, Gitai and Why War have been the target of protests in Venice. Around 300 filmmakers signed an open letter opposing the movie, and Dani Rosenberg...

Around 300 filmmakers have signed an open letter opposing two Israeli films set to screen at the Venice Film Festival.

The protest by filmmakers and artists amid the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict is aimed at Dani Rosenberg’s Hebrew-language film Al Klavim Veanashim (Of Dogs and Men), which is set against the backdrop of the Oct. 7 terror attacks in southern Israel, and Amos Gitai’s Why War. The latter stars Irène Jacob, Mathieu Amalric, Micha Lescot and Jérôme Kircher and is set for a world premiere on Aug. 31 out of competition.

“Of Dogs and Men, shot in the midst of Israel’s ongoing attacks on Gaza, whitewashes the genocide. Like Of Dogs and Men, Why War was created by complicit Israeli production companies that contribute to apartheid, occupation and now genocide through their silence or active participation in artwashing,” the letter, published by Artists for Palestine Italia, states.

The artists are represented...

This year’s Venice Film Festival will, for 10 days, be the starriest place on earth, with Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga in “Joker: Folie à Deux,” Cate Blanchett in Alfonso Cuarón’s TV series “Disclaimer” and Daniel Craig in Luca Guadagnino’s “Queer” all lighting up the Lido. But Alberto Barbera, the festival’s artistic director, promises that Venice still has grit underlying the glamour.

Barbera’s mandate at Venice has been extended through 2026 by new Biennale president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, a right-wing journalist and author appointed by Italy’s ruling coalition. But Barbera makes it clear he has been given free rein at a time when top festivals are becoming “important tools” in discussions about the most persistent problems facing the world. The 81st edition features movies that delve into two major geopolitical crises. “We’ve never backed down from dealing with thorny issues that can cause controversy,” Barbera says.

Exclusive: As the anniversary of October 7 approaches, the first scripted series about the devastating attack has emerged.

Fox Entertainment Studios and Israel’s yes TV are co-producing One Day in October, a four-part anthology series which the pair are calling the “first scripted representation of the personal stories that emerged from Oct. 7.”

Created by Oded Davidoff and Daniel Finkelman, the drama series, which is filmed on location in Israel, centers on four narratives of love, courage, survival and loss. From parental sacrifice and moments turning to torment to beacons of hope amid chaos, each story reveals profound truths about the “senseless carnage of this assault,” according to its backers. Cast includes Swell Ariel Or (The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem), Noa Kedar (The Malevolent Bride), Naomi Levov, Hisham Suliman, Wael Hamdoun (Fauda), Yuval Semo, Avi Azulay (Testament: The Story of Moses), Naveh Tzur and Yael Abecassis.

On October 7, Hamas militants stormed into Israel attacking, amongst other places, a number of kibbutzes and the Nova Music Festival, killing around 1,200 people and taking more than 200 hostage, of which only around half have so far returned and a number are presumed dead. The attack was the catalyst for the Israel-Hamas War, which has so far seen the deaths of around 40,000 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

One Day in October is one of the first projects for Fox Entertainment Studios banner Tideline, which Deadline revealed was launching earlier this year at Sundance. The anthology, which is being produced by Finkelman’s New York-based production company Sparks Go and Israel’s Zoa Films, will premiere on yes TV in October and be distributed globally by Fox Entertainment Global.

“One Day in October is among the most powerful projects I’ve seen, let alone been involved with,” said Fernando Szew, head of Fox Entertainment Studios. “Beautifully filmed, yet gut-wrenching, these are stories of people at their best in the midst of unimaginable, horrible circumstances. The survivors portrayed in this series allowed for their horrific experiences to be represented by wonderful talent — both in front of and behind the camera – which will invite the audience to ultimately feel their profound love of, and for, life.”

Finkleman added: “Our goal with this series is to capture and convey the picturesque kibbutz and euphoric music celebration that abruptly crumbled into incomprehensible nightmares. Thanks to the unwavering support of Fernando, Hannah and Tideline, I think we’ve achieved that vision and were able to create this four-part series from start to finish within a year, which is almost unheard of for any production.”

There are already a couple of movies in the works about October 7 and its aftermath including Dani Rosenberg’s Of Dogs and Men, which will world premiere at Venice, while several documentaries are being made about the attack. One Day in October also has shades of Ukraine War anthology series Those Who Stayed.

“At Tideline, our mission is to tell relevant and impactful stories from differentiated voices and perspectives globally,” said Hannah Pillemer, Executive Vice President and Head of Scripted at Fox Entertainment Studios. “One Day in October is seminal, poignant and beautifully told, making it a fitting and essential addition to Tideline’s growing footprint.”

One Day in October features four hour-long episodes written by Liron Ben-Shlush (Next to Her, Working Woman), Davidoff (The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem, The Malevolent Bride), Adam G. Simon, and Amir Hasfari and Keren Weissman (Mama’s Angel). It is directed by Davidoff and produced by Finkelman (Menasche, The Performance), Chaya Amor (The Performance), Aviv Ben-Shlush, Lee Ben-Shlush Kuperman and Szew.

Just a day after New York Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival made major announcements, Venice Film Festival is here with their full lineup ahead of the festival taking place August 28 through September 7.

Highlights include Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door, Luca Guadagnino’s Queer, Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist, Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Cloud, Alex Ross Perry’s Pavements, Harmony Korine’s Baby Invasion, Pablo Larraín’s Maria, Takeshi Kitano’s Broken Rage, Errol Morris’ Separated, Lav Diaz’s Phantosmia, Thomas Vinterberg’s Families Like Ours, Dea Kulumbegashvili’s April, and more.

Check out the lineup below with a hat tip to Cineuropa.

Competition

The Room Next Door – Pedro Almodóvar

Campo di battaglia – Gianni Amelio

Leurs enfants après eux – Ludovic & Zoran Boukherma

The Brutalist – Brady Corbet

Jouer avec le feu – Delphine & Muriel Coulin

Vermiglio – Maura Delpero

Iddu (Sicilian Letters) – Fabio Grassadonia & Antonio Piazza

Queer – Luca Guadagnino

Love – Dag Johan Haugerud...

Venice Film Festival has revealed the programme for its 81st edition, featuring a 21-strong Competition that includes new films from Todd Phillips, Pedro Almodovar, Luca Guadagino, Pablo Larrain, Brady Corbet and Justin Kurzel.

Scroll down for full line-up

The selection was unveiled by festival president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco and artistic director Alberto Barbera. It marked Buttafuoco’s first time at the annual press conference, after replacing Roberto Cicutto in October 2023.

Further filmmakers in Competition include Wang Bing, Luis Ortega, Dea Kulumbegashvili, Dag Johan Haugerud, Athina Rachel Tsangari and Walter Salles.

The line-up also includes Jon Watt’s Wolfs, starring Brad Pitt and George Clooney,...

Alexander Rodnyansky expects Russian authorities to sentence him to up to ten years in prison in his absence over his anti-war stance, but the Ar Content founder says it’s “too late to be scared” as he focuses on bolstering his slate of film and TV series.

Rodnyansky was born in Kyiv but a Moscow resident when, as a vocal critic of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, he was forced to flee in 2022.

Speaking at NATPE Budapest, the producer and former TV exec talked about his anti-war position and his large social media following. “That’s why I am arrested in absentia,” he said. “I’m on trial right now and I am about to get a sentence of from eight-to-ten years of imprisonment. Many of my friends already received these sentences; writers, journalists, some filmmakers.”

Rodnyansky said charges against him and others are designed to shut down anti-war voices inside Russia.

Rai Cinema International Distribution (Rcid) has taken international sales rights for “Of Dogs and Men,” an upcoming drama directed by Dani Rosenberg and produced by Ar Content. Rcid is introducing the film to buyers at the Cannes Film Festival’s market, where Variety has been given exclusive access to a first-look image.

Written by Rosenberg, Ori Avinoam and Itai Tamir, “Of Dogs and Men” is produced by two-time Academy Award nominee Alexander Rodnyansky of Ar Content and Itai Tamir (“Under a Blue Sun”) of Laila Films.

Set and filmed in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, the film follows 16-year-old Dar, who is returning to her kibbutz to look for her dog which was lost during the terror spree. She navigates the horrors inflicted upon the place and on the faces of people she meets while encountering the stark reality of the unfolding disaster beyond the fence. Between those...

Ever since he was forced to flee his Moscow home in 2022 after rousing suspicion within Russia’s government for speaking out about his opposition to the war in Ukraine, Kyiv-born producer Alexander Rodnyansky feels more compelled than ever to help bring to screen stories that are “rooted in truth.”

Now living in between Los Angeles, Italy and Ukraine, the Oscar-nominated producer has been concentrating his efforts on “building a hub” of European and international talent and uniting them with Hollywood through his banner Ar Content.

“European cinema, particularly Eastern European cinema, has always been my area of expertise and I have worked with most of the important directors of the region, so this seemed like a growth opportunity for the company,” says Rodnyansky, who was forced to shutter his other company, Non-Stop Productions when he left Russia. “I don’t pretend to be a Hollywood producer, but I have experience...

Exclusive: Israeli director Dani Rosenberg has set his next film with Alexander Rodnyansky’s Ar content. The film, which Rosenberg wrote with Ori Avinoam and Itai Tamir, is called Of Dogs and Men and Ar Content will produce with Tamier (Under a Blue Sun) of Laila Films.

The story follows 16-year-old Dar, who returns to her kibbutz to look for her dog who was lost during the terror attack of October 7. She navigates through the horrors etched upon the place and on the faces of people she meets while encountering the stark reality of the unfolding disaster beyond the fence. Between those who seek revenge and those whose faith in mankind remains unwavering, Dar will try to find her own voice.

Financed by Ar Content, Of Dogs and Men was shot in October and November 2023 in the kibbutzim lining the border with Gaza.

The rise of quality in the entries of this list becomes evident every year, with movies from countries such as Israel, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Jordan finding a number of way outs through festivals and streamers, winning awards all over. Of course, Iran still heads the region, as its biggest movie industry, but the biggest surprise this year came from Sri Lanka, which produced three films of true quality.

Without further ado, here are the best West-Central Asian (rest of Asia one could say) films of 2023, in random order. Some films may have premiered in 2022, but since they mostly circulated in 2023, we decided to include them.

20. Under the Sky of Damascus by Heba Khaled, Talal Derki, Ali Wajeeh (Syria)

“Under the Sky of Damascus” is a great documentary, a testament to the quality and the impact of the medium, and a movie that truly deserved the International Competition Golden...

Fasten your seat belts and put your flashiest sunglasses on before boarding on Uri Marantz' train to the glitzy world of drug-fuelled funfair based on a true story about a man who got away with it all. Before you get tempted to draw any parallels to Walter White, a loveable but fictive character created for the popular TV series “Breaking Bad” starring the one and only Brian Cranston, hold your horses: the man whose name was changed to Gabi (Oshri Cohen) to protect his identity, is really like you and me. Furthermore, unlike Walter, he didn't find a way and means to produce a known drug to earn a significant amount of cash, instead he invented a legal psychoactive drug from Cathinonec, a completely new substance, through his knowledge of chemistry and the need to feed his own personal beast.

King Khat screened at Tallinn Black Nights

As an...

United King Films has started shooting Yohanan Weller’s comedy My Private Telenovela as cinemas tentatively reopen.

Film production has tentatively resumed in Israel starting with Yohanan Weller’s feature comedy My Private Telenovela (working title) as select cinemas begin to open their doors following the deadly Hamas attack on October 7 and escalating war in the region.

The film is the first feature to begin production again in the country, delayed from an initial start date of October 8.

My Private Telenovela is produced by Moshe and Leon Edery’s United King Films and will be released by the company’s distribution arm in Israel.

A pair of noteworthy Cannes titles in Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest and Tran Anh Hung’s The Pot-au-Feu, some Locarno items such as Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World but with a major slew of Venice-preemed films are part of the 21 newly added titles to be considered for a whole bunch of prizes for the upcoming European Film Awards. The European Film Academy have now set their 4600 members with a batch of 40 films competing for various prizes at the ceremony that will be set for December 9th in Berlin. Here are the added films:

Animal – Sofia Exarchou (Greece/Austria/Bulgaria/Romania/Cyprus)

Blaga’s Lessons – Stephan Komandarev (Bulgaria/Germany)

Club Zero – Jessica Hausner (Austria/UK/Germany/France/Denmark/Qatar)

Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World – Radu Jude (Romania/Luxembourg/France/Croatia)

Excursion – Una Gunjak (Bosnia and Herzegovina/Croatia...

40 feature films now selected for Academy’s 2023 shortlist.

The European Film Academy has added a further 21 features to its shortlist for the 2023 European Film Awards, including Cannes premieres The Zone of Interest and Club Zero and Venice competition titles The Green Border and Io Capitano.

The shortlist for the European Film Awards now comprises 40 features. The first 19 titles titles in the running for the 2023 European Film Awards were unveiled in August and included Anatomy Of A Fall, How To Have Sex, The Old Oak and Firebrand.

The European Film Academy said that more than 40% of all selected films are directed by women.

Ayelet Menahemi’s family comedy Seven Blessings swept the board at Israel’s Ophir Awards on Sunday evening, triumphing in nine categories including in best film.

As the winner of the best film prize, the movie will automatically be put forward as Israel’s submission to the Best International Film category of the 2024 Academy Awards.

Set in Jerusalem in the early 1990s, the film revolves around an eventful Jewish Moroccan family wedding and the traditional blessings that are pronounced during the ceremony, again at the reception, and then on the next seven nights, with loved ones hosting special dinners in the couple’s honor.

Behind the facade of joie de vivre and togetherness, there are secrets, lies, and a painful old wound from the past that threatens to burst the bubble of their lives.

Added to the mix is a comedy of errors and misinterpretation from numerous members of the family speaking multiple languages,...

Countless films have been made around the premise of people making a decision that turns out to be wrong, which further triggers a chain reaction of events. But when the army, especially Israeli Defence Force (Idf) is involved, the usual Snafu (Situation Normal All F***ed Up) quickly goes to Fubar (F***ed Up Beyond All Repair). That would, in short, be the case with Dani Rosenberg's (of 2020 dramedy “The Death of Cinema and My Father Too” fame) “The Vanishing Soldier” that has just premiered at the main competition of Locarno.

The Vanishing Soldier is screening in Locarno Film Festival

Shlomi (Ido Tako) is an 18-year-old boy drafted in the army and stationed somewhere in the middle of combat zone. When the action comes too close for him, he uses his wits to lag behind and desert from the front line. Is it a conscious decision? An anti-war statement?...

18 films across three Kinoscope sections.

Sarajevo Film Festival has selected 18 features for its Kinoscope strand, composed of festival hits from the past year.

Titles include Giacomo Abbruzzese’s Disco Boy starring Franz Rogowski and Morr Ndiaye, which had its world premiere in competition at this year’s Berlinale; as did Lila Aviles’ Totem, about a seven-year-old girl who comes to understand her changing world.

Dani Rosenberg’s The Vanishing Soldier arrives at Sarajevo following a world premiere last weekend at Locarno Film Festival. The thriller centres on an 18-year-old Israeli soldier who flees back to his girlfriend in Tel Aviv...

“The Vanishing Soldier” is a coming of age story, as breathless as its protagonist: the kind of film that will make cinephiles of seventeen-year-olds. Which is one of the reasons that Dani Rosenberg, the film’s 43-year-old director, is delighted to be in Locarno, where the film, sold by Intramovies, is screening in main competition, and has just got a trailer, and poster, shared in exclusivity with Variety.

“We had options for other festivals,” Rosenberg told Variety at the Swiss fest.

“But Locarno is the best place because it’s a festival that admires films and not topics. We want the film to be first seen as cinema; not as an Israeli story about conflict.”

So what cinema inspired you?

“My first image when I was writing the script was Buster Keaton. I imagined the chases like slapstick chases, like “Cops,” from his era. And obviously, the ‘70s paranoia films,...

Do Not Expect Too Much Of The End Of The World (Radu Jude).The lineup for the 76th edition of the festival has been announced, including new films by Eduardo Williams, Leonor Teles, Lav Diaz, Radu Jude, and others.Concorso INTERNAZIONALEAnimal (Sofia Exarchou)Critical Zone (Ali Ahmadzadeh)Essential Truths of the Lake (Lav Diaz)Home (Leonor Teles)The Human Surge 3 (Eduardo Williams)The Invisible Fight (Rainer Sarnet)Do Not Expect Too Much Of The End Of The World (Radu Jude)Lousy Carter (Bob Byington)Manga D’Terra (Basil Da Cunha)Nuit Obscure – Au Revoir Ici, N’Importe Où (Sylvain George)Patagonia (Simone Bozzelli)The Permanent Picture (Laura Ferrés)Rossosperanza (Annarita Zambrano)Stepne (Maryna Vroda)Sweet Dreams (Ena Sendijarević)The Vanishing Soldier (Dani Rosenberg)Yannick (Quentin Dupieux)Excursion (Una Gunjak).Concorso Cineasti Del PRESENTECamping du Lac (Eléonore Saintagnan)Ein Schöner Ort (Katharina Huber)Excursion (Una Gunjak)Family Portrait (Lucy Kerr)Dreaming...

A stellar precursor to the busy fall film festival season, Locarno Film Festival annually premieres some of the year’s most exciting cinema and 2023 looks to be no different. Taking place from August 2-12 in the Swiss town, the festival has now unveiled its lineup for the 76th edition. Highlights include Eduardo Williams’ The Human Surge 3 (brilliantly forgoing a second film), Radu Jude’s Do Not Expect Too Much Of The End Of The World, Lav Diaz’s Essential Truths of the Lake, Sylvain George’s Nuit Obscure – Au Revoir Ici, N’Importe Où, and Quentin Dupieux’s Yannick.

Speaking to its main section, Giona A. Nazzaro, artistic director of the Locarno Film Festival, said, “From Quentin Dupieux and his edgy surrealism to Lav Diaz. From the sarcastic humor of Radu Jude to the night poetry of Sylvain Georges. From the mad inventions of Rainer Sarnet to the abstract psychedelia of Eduardo Williams.

International competition features 16 world premieres.

The Locarno Film Festival (August 2-12) has revealed the line-up for its 76th edition, which includes the world premiere of Romanian director Radu Jude’s Do Not Expect Too Much Of The End Of The World.

Locarno’s international competition will comprise 17 films, including 16 world premieres, which will vie for the coveted Golden Leopard awards.

Scroll down for full list of titles

These titles include Jude’s Do Not Expect Too Much Of The End Of The World, his first feature since winning the Berlinale Golden Bear for Bad Luck Banging Or Loony Porn in...

The Locarno International Film Festival unveiled the full program for 2023 on Wednesday, with dozens of world premieres set to screen in the 76th edition of the Swiss festival.

Locarno’s main Piazza Grande section will include several of this season’s festival favorites, among them Cannes Palme d’Or winner Anatomy of a Fall from French director Justine Triet starring Sandra Hüller; Ken Loach’s latest (and possibly last) feature, The Old Oak; Noora Niasari’s Sundance audience award winner Shayda, featuring Holy Spider star Zar Amir Ebrahimi; and Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman’s comedy Theater Camp, which won a special jury prize at Sundance. Other highlights include U.S. horror feature Falling Stars by directors Richard Karpala and Gabriel Bienczycki; Dammi from 71′ and White Boy Rick-helmer Yann Demange; and Magnetic Continent, the new nature documentary from March of the Penguins‘ filmmaker Luc Jacquet about the continent of Antarctica.

Italy’s Intramovies has acquired global rights outside of Israel and France on Israeli director Dani Rosenberg’s Gaza-Strip conflict drama “The Vanishing Soldier.”

“Vanishing Soldier” is Rosenberg’s second feature after “The Death of Cinema and My Father Too,” which was in the official selection in Cannes 202O and won the Jerusalem Film Festival’s top prize.

The film is about an 18-year-old Israeli soldier who flees the Gaza battlefield and heads back to his girlfriend in Tel Aviv only to discover that the military elite is convinced he was kidnapped in the fog of war. What ensues is a tragicomic journey and takes place over a period of 24 hours on the streets of Tel Aviv.

“Vanishing Soldier,” which stars Ido Tako, Mika Reiss, and Israeli singer Efrat Ben Tzur, is produced by Chilik Micheali, Avraham Pirchi, Itamar Pirchi for United Channels Movies (Ucm). The film has been financed by The Israel Film Fund.

Mediawan’s newly launched banner StoryNation Productions label is kicking off with a pair of internationally driven shows based on hit IP’s, “Escort Boys” and “Hot Ones.”

The company was created last year by two well-established producers, Charlotte Toledano Detaille and Jean-Paul Géronimi who both previously worked at Lagardere Studios which is now part of Mediawan.

Ordered by Amazon Prime Video, “Escort Boys” marks the TV debut of Ruben Alves, the filmmaker of the “Gilded Cage” and “Miss.” StoryNation is producing the series with Myriam Gharbi de Vasselot at Oberkampf Productions, another Mediawan group label.

“Escort Boys” is loosely based on the Israeli series “Johnny and the Knights of the Galilee,” produced by Yes Studios, and by created by Dani Rosenberg and Tom Shoval.

The anticipated six-part French adaptation shot in the South of France with a cast of up-and-comers and fresh faces including Guillaume Labbé, Thibaut Evrard, Simon Ehrlacher,...

Film won best picture at Israeli Film Academy awards automatically making it Israeli Oscar submission.

Eran Kolirin’s Let It Be Morning will be Israel’s submission to the 2022 Oscars after it won best film at the Israeli Film Academy annual awards, known locally as the Ophirs, on Tuesday (October 5).

The Israeli production unfolds against the backdrop of a Palestinian village situated in Israel close to Jerusalem that is suddenly cut off from the city by an unexplained army roadblock.

Israeli director Kolirin adapted the mainly Arab-language feature from the 2006 novel of the same name by celebrated Palestinian writer Sayed Kashua.

Other contenders include Avi Nesher’s Image Of Victory and Nadav Lapid’s Cannes Jury Prize winner Ahed’s Knee.

Israeli filmmaker Eran Kolirin’s new film Let It Be Morning had a contentious festival launch in Cannes this July after its mainly Palestinian cast led by Alex Bakri, Juna Suleiman and Salim Daw refused to attend the world premiere in Un Certain Regard.

They explained in a collective statement that their non-appearance was aimed at highlighting the “decades-long colonial campaign of ethnic cleansing… against the Palestinian people” and the “latest wave of violence and dispossession.”

Three months later, in an unexpected turn of events,...

Respected Jerusalem project lab is up and running again after two-year hiatus

Israeli filmmaker Netelie Braun has won the ninth edition of the Sam Spiegel International Film Lab for Oxygen, the tale of a mother who takes drastic action when her son volunteers for active duty in Lebanon.

It will be writer and director Braun’s first fiction feature after documentary Hope I’m In The Frame, about pioneering female director Michal Bat-Adam, and a number of short films including The Hangman, about the man who hanged Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann.

Braun describes the feature as ”a political film,...

Of this year’s 49 selections at the Black Movie International Independent Film Festival – Geneva, 12 — that is, roughly 25% — of them hail from Asia. The net is as wide as it is expansive: films range from the west reaches of the Caucasus in Azerbaijan to multiple entries from S. Korea. The notable Korean presence only speaks to the increased interest in S. Korean cinema as well, as their four entries include festival hits like Kim Yong-hoon’s “Beasts Clawing at Straws” and Berlinale Silver Bear “The Woman Who Ran” (Hong Sang-soo).

Black Movie International Independent Film Festival – Geneva first emerged from a desire to showcase African films. In 1999, the Black Movie expanded to include other members of the Global South — especially focusing on Asia and Latin America. Black Movie is known for its discovery of auteur cinema, including showcases of Apitchatpong Weerasethakul, Jia Zhangke, Carlos Reygadas, Wang Bing, Takashi Miike, João Pedro Rodrigues in Switzerland.

Since, for the past few years we have intensified our coverage of films that do not belong in the S/Se Asia or the Asean countries, we decided, for the first time, to have a list that deals with movies from outside these regions, essentially including movies from all Asian countries that do not belong in the aforementioned three. The list is probably the most diverse, as it includes films from Israel, Kazakhstan, Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey, Palaistine and Kurdistan, although, expectedly, being one of the largest film industries in Asia, Iran has the lion’s share.

Without further ado, here are the best West Asian films of 2020, in reverse order. Some films may have premiered in 2019, but since they mostly circulated in 2020, we decided to include them.

*By clicking on the title, you can read the full review of the film

20. The Death of Cinema and my Father

“The Death...

The festival unfolded mainly online with special socially distanced screenings for Israeli works.

Ukrainian producer and director Valentyn Vasyanovych’s drama Atlantis has won best film at the 37th edition of the Jerusalem Film Festival (Jff), which is running as an online event December 10-20 due to Israel’s ongoing Covid-19 lockdown.

Set in war-torn eastern Ukraine in the near future, the film revolves around a former soldier suffering from Ptsd, who is trying to rebuild his life against the backdrop of his environmentally devastated homeland.

It is Vasyanovych’s third feature and Ukraine’s submission to the best international film category of the 2021 Oscars.

Sometimes the plans we have come up with are thwarted by events in our lives out of our control and while trying to cope with the situation as well as its consequences, we may discover a much bigger narrative than we have anticipated, one which involves ourselves and how we live and our relationships to others. When director Dani Rosenberg was in pre-production for a project titled “The Night Escape”, his main cast member, his father Natan Rosenberg was diagnosed with terminal cancer and his health deteriorated quickly, making it impossible for him to even shoot one scene. Rather than abandoning the project altogether, the camera became Rosenberg’s companion, recording the conversations, at times heated arguments he had with his parents, resulting in “The Death of Cinema and My Father Too”, a blend of family drama and meta-film.

“The Death of Cinema and My Father Too” is screening at...

Past participants have included ‘Son Of Saul’, ‘The Death Of Cinema and My Father Too’ and ‘Beginning’.

The Jerusalem Sam Spiegel International Film Lab (Jsfl) has unveiled the 12 projects selected for its 9th edition, which is running online for now due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Founded in 2011 under the auspices of the Jerusalem Sam Spiegel Film School (Jsfs), the lab traditionally selects six international and six Israeli projects.

The lab usually combines residential workshops and remote support but this year most of the programme is expected to take place online.

The first writing session will take place in December, followed...

Past participants have included ‘Son Of Saul’, ‘The Death Of Cinema and My Father Too’ and ‘Beginning’.

The Jerusalem Sam Spiegel International Film Lab (Jsfl) has unveiled the 12 projects selected for its 9th edition, which is running online for now due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Founded in 2011 under the auspices of the Jerusalem Sam Spiegel Film School (Jsfs), the lab traditionally selects six international and six Israeli projects.

The lab usually combines residential workshops and remote support but this year most of the programme is expected to take place online.

Participants include UK director Claire Oakley with English Animals, her...

The 69th International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg (Iffmh) promises to be an ambitious celebration of cinema despite its move online due to the ongoing pandemic, with new sections showcasing visionary and innovative works from around the globe as well as classic titles from yesteryear.

Sascha Keilholz, the fest’s new artistic and commercial director, and his team, including new head of program Frédéric Jaeger, had well thought out plans for this year’s edition that would have seen screenings in all theaters and multiplexes across the cities of Mannheim and Heidelberg before rising coronavirus cases in Germany led to a second lockdown in November.

“In this very peculiar year we have all had to change plans, adapt and improvise most of the time,” says Keilholz, who previously headed the Heimspiel Film Festival in Regensburg from 2009 to 2019. “One cannot rely on established structures, processes and reflexes. As a result, planning an event of this magnitude seems quite paradoxical.

Cinema no matter what, festival no matter what. The 61st Thessaloniki International Film Festival is back in online business, from 5 to 15 November 2020, with indie cinema from all over the world, the best movies of the recent Greek film production, breathtaking tributes, and subversive films that will carry us to the four corners of the horizon, amidst these unforeseeable and unprecedented days we’re living in.

Welcome at www.filmfestival.gr, where 177 movies are in store for you to watch. We have picked all the Asian Titles in the programme for you:

International Competition

Main programme

Ghosts – Azra Deniz Okyay, Turkey-France-Qatar, 2020 (Pictured)

Prophecies From Another World: Ski-fi And Cli-fi (1950-1990)

King Kong Vs. Godzilla – Ishiro HŌNDA, Japan, 1962

Yongari, Monster From The Deep – Kim Kee-duk, South Korea, 1967

Meet The Neighbors

Main programme

200 Meters – Ameen Nayfeh, Palestine-Jordan-Qatar-Italy-Sweden, 2020

The Death Of Cinema And My Father Too – Dani Rosenberg, Israel, 2020

Out of Competition

Asia – Ruthy Pribar,...

Quelle surprise. The Cannes 2020 label anoints two Israeli films from male directors, both about father-son relationships and grieving. The superior by a country mile is the seamlessly accomplished “Here We Are” from veteran helmer-writer Nir Bergman. And then there is the grandiosely titled “The Death of Cinema and My Father Too,” an ambitious, low-budget exercise from feature debutant Dani Rosenberg that offers a sometimes artful but more often self-indulgent mashup of fiction, reality and home movies. Although definitely not for all tastes, the Cannes designation may nudge this item into further fests and niche sales.

As we learn from watching, “The Death of Cinema” is the result of a complicated evolution. Earlier, Rosenberg, a Sam Spiegel Film School graduate, received a grant from the Israel Film Fund to make “The Night Escape,” a comic drama that would exploit both national and personal paranoias. He planned to cast his businessman father Natan in the lead.

Cannes 2020: Tick-tock, stop the clock! Just like Fats Domino, in his debut feature, Dani Rosenberg tries to freeze time. When a filmmaker already quotes Jorge Luis Borges in his director’s notes, one half-expects what’s in store – in short, anything but your typical, easy-to-follow narrative. Dani Rosenberg’s The Death of Cinema and My Father Too, granted the Cannes 2020 label, combines shaky archive footage with fictional scenes, VHS short films and a whole subplot involving an Iranian military attack on Tel Aviv. Oh, and “House of the Rising Sun”, blaring its tale of a father who was “a gamblin’ man down in New Orleans”. And yet, despite all that jazz, ultimately it’s an extremely intimate affair about a son who doesn’t want to let go of his withering father. That sounds simple enough, but it takes some proper digging to get to the core, and Cannes’ stamp of approval.